Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the leaders of tribal community, self-help groups, leaders of PESA Committees and captain of village football clubs in Pakaria, Shahdol of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.
According to a two-minute video shared by news agency ANI, the prime minister can be seen interacting with the women in the village along with the state chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Women of the self-help groups and the footballers who have earned a name for the state have been called to Parkiya to hold talks with the PM. Modi also discussed the issues related to Panchayats with the tribal people. He also interacted with the important tribal leaders of Vindhya region, according to a report by First Post.
PM Modi launched the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol on Saturday which aims to eradicate anaemia by 2047. PM Modi also distributed sickle cell genetic status cards to the beneficiaries at the event.
While addressing the gathering, PM Modi said, “Previous governments were insensitive and disrespectful towards the tribal communities and the poor. We saw how several parties reacted to a tribal woman becoming the President.”
“When the Central Tribal University was opened in the Shahdol division, they named it after their family. However, the Shivraj government made a welcome departure from this tradition when it named Chhindwada University after the revolutionary, Raja Shankar Shah. We also named the Patal Pani Station after Tantia Mama (revolutionary Tantia Tope),” he added.
Emphasising the importance of education and schools in tribal areas, he said, “I know the importance of schools and colleges in tribal areas. That’s why our government gave tribal children the opportunity to avail residential education in more than 400 new Eklavya schools. As many as 24,000 such students are studying in such schools in Madhya Pradesh alone.”
